Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Today Eric Griego’s campaign announced that he has received one of the first endorsements from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Funds. The LCV is a national environmental group who spends large money on congressional candidates. Eric Griego received the endorsement of the Sierra Club earlier.

These two endorsements have to hurt the funding raising abilities of both Martin Chavez and Michelle Lujan Grisham when it comes to environmental groups.

Chavez is known to be a strong negotiator. Not everyone has liked that about him at times. He could be a positive addition to congress. His stands on some issues follow along with that of the Democratic Party. He has been know to lean toward the middle when it comes to economic issues. Still there is much to be learned about how he views issues that affect quality of life for our children and our state.

“Like many Americans, I'm angry and frustrated that the ‘super committee’ didn’t reach agreement on how to reduce the deficit. Sadly, they did not even come close. Democrats put hundreds of billions of dollars worth of spending cuts on the table, but republicans refused to compromise in order to protect the misguided Bush tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. They said ‘No’ because they value their pledge to lobbyist Grover Norquist over the commitment they have made to the American people."

“At a time of serious national debt, we cannot afford to extend tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires who aren't shouldering their fair share of our nation's challenges. We need to be clear on our priorities: cut waste and end tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires so we can reduce the debt, create jobs and protect Social Security and Medicare.”

Clearly not all of our members of congress are thrilled with the republican’s failure to bargain in good faith. The Republican Party will be the first to blame the democrats for no deal. The American people are sick of seeing the rich get richer while the poor and the middle class are paying the bills. We need to replace republican congressional representatives with people who are willing to bargain in good faith.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The problem with people who run for congress is that they tend to know very little about how our educational system in this country works. If they were among the lucky, they found a teacher who after hours of working in overcrowded classrooms and grading papers late into the night for slave wages made time for them during school hours. If they were one of the unlucky students, they found an overworked undertrained underpaid failure, who should never have been allowed into a classroom in the first place.

Should failures in the teaching profession be fired? Not everyone is destined to be a teacher. First all employees should receive proper training in their profession. Just because you have a special skill that you are good at does not make you a trained educator. They should be given the support by their administration. They should be given feedback about where they are doing well and where they can improve. They should be supplied with the materials and time they need to do a good job when it comes to our children’s education. If after all of this occurs then yes, fire someone who cannot or will not learn from their mistakes.

Paying our educators a good salary is important because it attractes higher skilled more knowledgeable employees. Anyone with a brain knows that educators are paid far too little for the job they occupy. The problem with this is that we spend millions of taxpayer’s dollars on educational salaries each year. Why are we not getting a bigger bang for our buck? The federal government like the state drops large sums of money into a pot and then tells local administration to spend it on educational salaries. As a result administration has six figure salaries while most school systems cannot afford to pay teachers who work in the classroom a livable wage. Yet the first thing you always hear out of a candidate’s mouth is that they will continue the practice on pain of death.

Educators know that this attitude will not change the system anytime in the future. At some point, someone with half a brain needs to understand that the best way to fix the problem is to split administrational salaries from educator’s salaries in the future. The school administration should keep control of the educational salaries at the local level while the administrational salaries are determined at a higher level in the system.

As for affordable, education should be cost effective. Students should be able to pay off their student loans within four years of graduating college. This means that anyone that graduates from a college should have the skills to get a job in the real world. Unless someone is so rich that they do not need the money, in which case they do not need student loans in the first place, then they should only be trained in marketable skills. Rich people or people supported by rich people should continue to be trained in fields that enhance our cultural development. Taxpayers should not be expected to spend their hard earned dollars on studies that do not contribute to the skill levels of our current or future workforce.

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Albuqueque Journal reported that Governor Martinez received campaign donations of $70,000 from the Downs of Albuquerque during her run for the governor’s seat. The Downs of Albuquerque won the bid for continuing to run the racetrack on the Expo New Mexico fairgrounds for another twenty-five years. We call that pay-to-play or at least the appearance of an impropriety.

Governor Martinez also appointed Garrett Hennessey, Charles "Chuck" Gara, and John A. Garcia to evaluate the bids for the contract summited by the Downs of Albuquerque. Darren White worked on the bid for the Downs of Albuquerque as a consultant. He also was appointed to the judicial standards commission by the governor, and was a strong supporter of the governor during her campaign for the governor’s seat. White resigned from his position after public outcry over an issue with how he handled his wife’s car accident. The voters have to wonder exactly what the governor considers arm’s length when it comes to state contracts.

The voters also have to wonder if all of the governor’s talk about pay-to-play only affects the Democratic Party and its elected officials. One has to ask what about the Republican Party and its elected officials. We need a grand jury to investigate exactly how close the governor was to the Downs of Albuquerque. What is the relationship between the Governor Martinez and the Downs of Albuquerque?

Local grassroots community leaders who live and work around the fairgrounds have voiced loud opposition to the Downs of Albuquerque running the racetrack because of the crime it attracts to the local area around Central. State Senator Tim Keller who represents the local communities surrounding the fairgrounds spoke out about the contract. He has been strongly representing his district when it comes to this issue. The Republican Party attacked Senator Keller with false mudslinging because of his push back on the idea of a twenty-five year contract with the Downs of Albuquerque.

Did Governor Martinez arrange for the Republican Party to attack New Mexico State Senator Keller who represents the local communities around the fairgrounds in an attempt to silence opposition to the new contract? Why is there such a rush to approve this new contract with the Downs of Albuquerque? Why does it not matter to the governor what the local communities around the fairground think about what should be approved for their communities? How is this open and honest government on the governor’s part?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Today state representative Al Park announced that he would be stepping down from his state house seat to run for the Public Regulations Commission seat, which is currently held by Jason Marks. Marks is term limited and will not be able to run for the seat a third time.

After all of the scandal with Block, it will be good to ensure an honest individual is running for the seat in Albuquerque. Albuquerque has been lucky with whom we have elected to the PRC. Our representative has been not only honest and how working, but Jason Marks has been one of the PRC members who knew the business best.

Al Park will make a qualified candidate for the seat. He is a family man who respects the law. As a lawyer, he understands the finer details of how to deal with large energy corporations. Al Park has the support of the voters in his district. He is a clear choice for the PRC seat in 2012. The voting public is lucky to have a good individual step forward.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Large cities around the country are moving toward such successful economic developments:

Expo New Mexico Fair Grounds--International Showcase:

Beyond the main gate, entering from the south at the Expo New Mexico Fair Grounds is the International Showcase area. The International Showcase area is a collective of pavilions that wrap around the International Showcase Lagoon. Each one of the pavilions represents the best of culture and cuisine from New Mexico’s Native Pueblos and other world cultures that live and thrive within the International District:

In each of the pavilions, you will find a mixture of restaurants, cultural gift shops, entertainment areas, and arts and crafts displays. Along the tree-lined shore of the lagoon is a lovely well-lighted brick boardwalk, which will lead you to the welcoming gateways of each of the international pavilions. On the lagoon is an Italian style water taxi service, which provide a romantic ride to the pavilion of your choice. The water from the lagoon is recycled to provide an eco-friendly environment for the City of Albuquerque while still encouraging an active nightlife and culturally diverse economic development.

Just one example of what could be with the right long-term city planning. It is a pity that the governor appears to have been bought out by some campaign donators.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Friday, November 4, 2011

Yes, large corporations may face a 35% tax rate but none of them pays that much in taxes. It has been reported that 30 corporations in this country pay no taxes at all and some even receive money back from the government like our poorest in this country. We call that corporate welfare. The republicans have done away with welfare for the poor so we should return the favor by doing away with welfare for corporations. We should limit the time to two years for any take break received from the government for corporations.

What we need is to change the tax code so that small companies receive those benefits while larger corporation who make billions of dollars each year in profits pay their fair share. The handouts to Corporate America are harming our economy by taking tax dollars away from small startup companies. Those small companies are the ones that produce the most jobs in our economy.

We can start this process by sending people to Washington D.C. who are willing to stand up and fight for the rights of the 99% who do not get corporate welfare in this country. Our children’s future depends on our finding a way to take the power back from the corporations. We need to show our support for local businesses in this country. We need to encourage startup companies, which will put our children to work.

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C. S. Lewis

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A Female Democrat

1/1/10 A new year and a number of future elections to cover. The budget will be a major issue this year and we must work hard to protect the core values of our party.